This is part two of my session with Zaura, who booked my favorite package (only second to Birth, of course :), the Maternity and Newborn combo package! I always get really excited when I get to see sessions come full circle. Click here to see Zaura's amazing Maternity session, and how we decided to switch things up and shoot more lifestyle for the newborn session.

Shooting newborns is not an easy task, and I have major respect for all photographers who do that on a daily basis. Not only do you first have to get past your oooohhh's and aaahh's and lovey dovey eyes enough to focus on actually taking pictures (ehem, totally guilty of that..hey! I love babies! Can't help it!) but you also have to work around their temperaments. Babies love to eat, sleep, poop, cry and repeat, and during lifestyle sessions all of this stuff happens, and then some :) so I always like to remind my families to just go with the flow of the baby, not to have too high expectations of the baby "performing" to their expectations. Trust the process, trust your photographer, and watch the magic happen :) With that said, baby Amaya was a true rockstar. Don't believe me? Check her out for yourself!

Baby Tulin's story is definitely one for the books, it is the classic example of how, we as humans, make plans for the future, yet at the end of the day, what ends up happening is mainly in the hands of God. Our good effort and intention aside, whatever God wants will happen and we have good faith in His intentions for us.

Noura and I had already been talking for a while about their upcoming maternity photo session and we had also been preparing for birth photography. It was exactly two days before our scheduled maternity session, we had been texting back and forth finalizing on plans. I went to sleep, only to wake up the next morning to the most amazing news; Noura had given birth through the night to her beautiful angel, Tulin. A whole four weeks earlier than her due date! I will never forget my reaction to reading the news, I laughed out so loud and said a little prayer to Noura and Ahmad; baby Tulin was already showing her fun-loving and adventurous personality and she just could not wait to be out in the world! 

Needless to say, the newborn session went absolutely amazing. I always prepare parents to not expect too much during newborn photography sessions, because again, you plan and plan for the perfect session, but baby's cry, and need to be fed, and changed, and burped. And that is why it is always best to just go with the flow of your baby, allow them the space to just be babies. Documentary or lifestyle newborn photography sessions are just absolutely PERFECT at this age. There is no posing, no faking, just natural shots of mom, dad and baby living through a typical two hours in their newfound life, with me happily documenting it all!

Congratulations Noura and Ahmad, Tulin is very lucky to have you both, and I can't wait to see you all again!